


East of Scanra, West of Galla

by Opalgirl



Category: Tortall - Pierce
Genre: AU, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-11
Updated: 2010-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-08 21:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalgirl/pseuds/Opalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarra Beneksri is startled to see her nighttime visitor - and not very pleased with what he's offering her. Set within rainstormamaya's "May You Live in Interesting Times" AU universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	East of Scanra, West of Galla

"Goddess bless, who is it at this hour?" Sarra Beneksra padded to the door, candle clutched in one hand, an unhappy baby clutched to her chest with the other hand. She normally knew when she was needed in the village as a healer, but this time she'd had no such sense. Dren squalled, tiny fists wrapped in her night-time braid, and Sarra opened the old wooden door, admitting a blast of cold air.

The fire banked in the kitchen hearth and her candle both guttered in the wind. Sarra stared. A great white bear, one of the ones folk said existed on the harsh Scanran coast, stood on the threshold. Its fur was as white as the late snow on the ground, and its black eyes seemed alert and it snorted as the dog, Mammoth, growled at it. Those bears didn't come this far south. Never.

She gaped at it for a moment longer and then called for the dog, reaching to wrench the door closed. What had she been thinking, standing there staring like an idiot at something that could kill her? A huge paw stopped the door from moving and she swore. Of course, something like this showed up when Da was away, visiting an old friend in Cria.

"Go on! Get! Go on!" she cried, putting down her burden of candle and baby and reaching for a broom and a rough kitchen chair – the only weapons at hand. "Go away!" Mammoth barked, but stood still. The dog was not a fool – the bear was bigger and stronger.

The bear shoved past the door, great claws leaving streaks and marks on her floor. Then it stared at her, as she stood, ready to defend her children – Dren, on the kitchen table, squalling his lungs out, and Daine, sound asleep in her basket upstairs. Mammoth was barking incessantly and Sarra would wonder later if she'd heard properly at all.

"Woman," said a deep voice, booming, and shaking the house. "I come to offer you a… proposition."

She stared, realizing the bear's eyes were focused on her. Was it speaking? It _was_. Great Merciful Mother! She said nothing and stood there, numb.

"If I can have one of your children – you have two – your family will have great fortune and no longer endure hardship."

"No." The answer was on her lips almost before the bear finished speaking.

It tipped its great head to one side and looked at her. "I could relieve your father's suffering. Stop you and the remaining child from going hungry. Keep you warm. All I ask is for one of your children."

Da was in pain. And, sometimes, food was scarce, and gods only knew, sometimes, the wind shook the old house something else. But which child would she give it? Dren? Daine? They were twins, born together and reared together. They were not meant to be separated at all – Sarra had learned that from the old village midwife when she was a lass. They would live. Her children did not belong to any white bear, never mind what it promised. They were hers. And their father's. If it was angered and it killed her, so be it. Her Da would return and discover what had happened.

"No. They're twins – and not meant to be separated," she said firmly. "They're mine – I've raised them, I've nursed them, I've fed them. Be gone."

"You have one moon to consider my offer, woman," said the bear, black eyes taking in her kitchen, "and then I will return."

"There's no need. They're just babes – and they're mine," she said, stubbornly, glaring at the giant creature. It almost seemed to… sigh, and then backed out through the door, brushing past Mammoth as if the dog wasn't there at all. Most of the bears that came about were frightened or put off by a dog, unless they were a female with cubs.

Mammoth came running through the door to her, whimpering, and she pulled the door closed and stroked the dog's head before stacking what of the furniture she could carry up against the door. "S'all right, you silly beast." Her father would not be happy to see the best of his dogs, all but turned into a whimpering babe. "Go on – lay down, then." Dren had stilled – finally - in his blankets, and she picked him up and cradled him to her shoulder, reaching for the candle with her free hand as a great wind shook the old house. Da had built this house, and they did well enough. They weren't bad enough off for her to give her children to a great talking bear


End file.
